Electricity distribution companies across Nigeria billed customers a combined sum of N255.19bn for power supplied in October 2025 but were only able to collect N210.92bn, resulting in substantial losses from both unbilled electricity and unpaid bills that continue to put pressure on the liquidity of the power sector.

The figures are contained in the latest commercial performance factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, which tracks the operational and financial efficiency of the country’s 11 electricity distribution companies.

According to the NERC report, the DisCos received electricity valued at N303.85bn from the national grid in October, representing an increase of 8.73 per cent compared to September. Despite receiving more energy, the value of electricity billed to customers declined by 5.65 per cent to N255.19bn.

The shortfall between energy received and energy billed amounted to N48.66bn, representing electricity supplied but not billed to customers during the month. As a result, industry-wide billing efficiency fell to 83.99 per cent, a decline of 2.45 percentage points from September, indicating that more than 16 per cent of electricity delivered to DisCos was not captured in customer bills.

While billing performance weakened, revenue collection showed some improvement. Total collections rose by 7.48 per cent month on month to N210.92bn, pushing collection efficiency up to 82.66 per cent, an increase of 1.40 percentage points from September. NERC attributed instances where some DisCos recorded collection efficiency above 100 per cent to the recovery of outstanding debts from previous months.

Despite the improvement in collections, the sector continued to experience major financial gaps. Of the N255.19bn billed in October, DisCos failed to collect N44.27bn, further compounding losses already incurred from unbilled energy.

When billing and collection weaknesses were combined, overall recovery efficiency stood at 82.49 per cent, reflecting the share of allowed revenue that was actually realised by operators across the market.

The commission’s data further showed that the allowed average tariff for October was N116.25 per kilowatt-hour, while the actual average collection dropped to about N95.85 per kilowatt-hour, representing a 1.23 per cent decline from September. This growing gap between regulated tariffs and realised revenue continues to worsen liquidity pressures across the electricity value chain, affecting remittances to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and other market participants.

A closer look at individual DisCo performance revealed wide disparities across the market. Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company emerged as the strongest performer in October.

Ikeja DisCo billed N41.26bn out of N43.72bn worth of electricity received, recording a billing efficiency of 94.36 per cent. It collected N42.11bn, exceeding its billings and achieving a collection efficiency of 102.07 per cent, while recovery efficiency rose to 108.17 per cent.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company also ranked among the top performers, although its billing performance declined slightly. It billed N40.29bn out of N42.10bn received, resulting in a billing efficiency of 95.71 per cent, which was 3.33 percentage points lower than its September performance.

Eko DisCo collected N37.67bn, translating to a collection efficiency of 93.50 per cent and a recovery efficiency of 101.65 per cent.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company received electricity valued at N46.32bn in October but billed only N38.93bn, leaving its billing efficiency at 84.05 per cent, a sharp decline of 5.75 percentage points from the previous month.

Despite weaker billing, Abuja DisCo recorded a relatively strong collection efficiency of 88.35 per cent, collecting N34.39bn, while recovery efficiency stood at 88.30 per cent.

Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company billed 80.32 per cent of the energy it received, slightly lower than its September performance. However, its collection efficiency improved to 87.07 per cent, while recovery efficiency rose to 82.97 per cent, placing it among the better-performing utilities in the southern part of the country.

In contrast, several northern DisCos continued to struggle with severe commercial inefficiencies. Jos Electricity Distribution Company recorded the weakest overall performance in the market.

Although its billing efficiency improved marginally to 84.89 per cent, Jos DisCo collected only N5.26bn out of N13.50bn billed. This resulted in a collection efficiency of just 38.98 per cent, a decline of 18.19 percentage points, while recovery efficiency fell sharply to 42.28 per cent.

Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company recorded a notable improvement in billing efficiency, which rose by 8.69 percentage points to 84.62 per cent. However, collections remained weak at 43.03 per cent, and recovery efficiency stood at 43.70 per cent, underscoring persistent commercial challenges.

Enugu Electricity Distribution Company experienced a deterioration in billing performance. Out of N26.11bn worth of energy received, it billed N20.95bn, leaving billing efficiency at 80.23 per cent, down by 4.23 percentage points.

Although collection efficiency improved to 80.74 per cent, recovery efficiency declined to 77.67 per cent.

Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company recorded one of the strongest improvements in collections during the month. While its billing efficiency dipped slightly to 73.51 per cent, collection efficiency surged by 10.10 percentage points to 84.49 per cent, with N22.56bn collected. Recovery efficiency rose significantly to 74.16 per cent.

Benin, Yola and Kano Electricity Distribution Companies remained in the amber zone for recovery performance. Benin DisCo billed only N19.84bn out of N30.38bn worth of electricity received, resulting in a billing efficiency of 65.32 per cent.

Its collection efficiency fell to 83.72 per cent, while recovery efficiency declined to 65.16 per cent.

Kano DisCo recorded one of the highest billing efficiencies at 98.05 per cent but collected just 58.67 per cent of its billings, leaving recovery efficiency at 68.65 per cent.

Yola DisCo posted a billing efficiency of 66.03 per cent and a collection efficiency of 69.35 per cent, leaving its overall performance fragile.

The October performance figures were released against the backdrop of ongoing regulatory and structural reforms aimed at strengthening the financial sustainability of Nigeria’s electricity sector.

NERC has repeatedly emphasised the need for improved metering, reduced energy theft, and stricter enforcement of commercial performance benchmarks across the market.

Despite recent tariff adjustments and reforms introduced under the amended Electricity Act, the latest data indicate that unresolved challenges in energy accounting, customer enumeration and revenue protection continue to drain billions of naira monthly from the sector, raising fresh concerns about the sustainability of ongoing reforms and the stability of the electricity market.